Garage Heaters

Jordan Budd

Super Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Aug 8, 2012
Messages
2,768
Location
NW Nebraska
Wondering about a heater for our 2 car deep garage. Strongly considering a 240v electric ceiling mounted unit, but wanted to see if anyone else has it figured out on here.
 

elkguide

WKR
Joined
Jan 26, 2016
Messages
4,779
Location
Vermont
If your electricity is cheap, that is a great way to go. Here in Vermont where our electricity runs $.18 a kilowatt hour, electric doesn't make sense. I picked up a used mobile home (trailer) oil furnace and it keeps my 28X32 with 10' ceilings very comfortable.
 

rtaylor

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Oct 10, 2018
Messages
129
Location
TN
I just put a DIY 3 ton ductless minisplit in a 3000 square foot garage and it does pretty good. I would think you would be really happy with a 2 ton ductless mini in a 2 car garage.
 

NDGuy

WKR
Joined
Feb 13, 2017
Messages
4,131
Location
ND
Get gas if you can vs electric (barring the price of energy near you making sense)

I had an electric in my first home and that puppy sucked power.
 

Moose63Pa

FNG
Joined
Jan 24, 2020
Messages
44
Ive had good luck with mr heater gas units in a couple garages. Northern Tool offers them pretty cheap and If you sign up for the club you can get much cheaper shipping.
 
Joined
Apr 4, 2017
Messages
1,069
Location
north idaho
are you trying to keep the garage at a certain temp or bump up the temp occassionally?

I use to keep my pole building at a certain temp, then winter hit and i did not like the affordablilty.
 

Mikido

WKR
Joined
Dec 14, 2020
Messages
822
I think electric heat for spot warming here and there is the way to go. Anything above 50 garage temp works for me
 

HOT ROD

WKR
Joined
Apr 15, 2012
Messages
996
Location
Casper Wy
I have a ceiling electric heater it works well but it runs the electric bill up.. Hopefully bye next winter ill have a mr heater gas....
 
Joined
Oct 5, 2018
Messages
2,060
Location
Colorado
Here is the King heater I installed in my two car garage that has a taller than normal ceiling. It plugs into a 240 volt outlet and will make the garage into t-shirt weather in under an hour even when it's 10 degrees out. I only use it on days when I am working on cars or other projects because it definitely has a high draw of electricity. I bought mine used but here is a link for a new one if you are interested.


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Joined
Mar 26, 2021
Messages
22
I have a King in my 1200 sq ft garage. Insulated, sheetrocked, 11' ceiling. Works great. Guessing it takes a couple hours to heat garage from 40° to 60°. Frequent use probably bumps my bill up $100 per month. The heating coil failed after a few years of use. King sent me a free replacement coil.
 

Fullfan

WKR
Joined
Jul 31, 2016
Messages
1,063
Location
Nw/Pa
Not electric but does a dang good job. My shop is 32x48 w 2 12’ garage doors. I hear it with a new Reznor 125k BTU propane. I keep the thermostat set at 50, when I go out and tinker around I can have it up to 65-70 in ten minutes.
Typical winter in NW/Pa I burn 2-3 of the 100 gal tanks.
 

KineKilla

WKR
Joined
Apr 8, 2020
Messages
508
Location
Utah
I have a Reznor in my garage. It heats it fine but it rattles and is loud!

Replacement fans are expensive so I haven't made it a priority

Sent from my SM-N976U using Tapatalk
 

WMag338

WKR
Joined
Apr 11, 2020
Messages
452
Location
SC
I installed a Mr. Heater Big Maxx natural gas 120v heater in my garage when we built our house. The unit came from Northern Tool and was about $500 plus the cost of installation. I have a 3 car oversized garage. That heater is the bees knees for sure. Can't recommend it enough.
 

hh76

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Aug 2, 2021
Messages
232
I started with a propane, non vented. Terrible condensation, but heated the space fast.

Then went electric. Easy install (I'm an electrician), but expensive and took a while to heat the whole space

I now have a vented natural gas hanging heater. Cheap enough that I keep the temp at a constant 45 degrees, then turn up to 60 when I want to work. Nice having everything warm, heats the rest of the way fast, and no condensation. I installed the unit and venting, hired a contractor to run the gas line, which wasn't too far, and fairly simple install. Total cost to me was around $700.
 

Flatgo

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Aug 10, 2015
Messages
236
one thing to think about is i was able to install an electric heater for approximately $200 between heater, breaker, and wire (easy to install myself). a natural gas heater would have cost me probably atleast a $1000 by myself (not sure i trust my pipe fitting) and probably $2500 for a plumber to install. the heater maybe adds $30 per month (in montana) in the winter so say $150 a year it would take approximately 15 years to recoup the cost of a gas heater. i also don't keep the garage at 60 degrees either which would make a difference too.
 

Titan

WKR
Joined
Sep 13, 2016
Messages
594
Location
Texas
I went with a 80,000 btu mr. heater gas garage heater. Had a plumber install a new 1" line from my meter into the building (30 ft poly and 60 ft of black pipe) for about $1,000 total. Heater and venting was about $500. Installed that portion myself (and the wiring).

Keeps 2,400 sq ft with 16 ft walls plenty warm. You could get by with the 50k but unit in a 2 car garage no problem.
 
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